1994 London Israeli Embassy bombing

1994 London Israeli Embassy bombing
Israeli embassy in London

The attack site
Location London, United Kingdom
Coordinates 51°30′10.44″N 0°11′20.76″W / 51.5029000°N 0.1891000°W / 51.5029000; -0.1891000
Date 26 July 1994
Target Israeli embassy
Balfour House
Attack type
 car bomb
Non-fatal injuries
 20
Motive Palestinian nationalism
Convicted Jawad Botmeh, Samar Alami

The 1994 London Israeli Embassy bombing was a car bomb attack on 26 July 1994 against the Israeli embassy building in London. Twenty civilians were injured. A second bomb was exploded outside Balfour House, Finchley, premises occupied by the Jewish Philanthropic Institution for Israel.[1]

The attack

A car packed with 20 to 30 pounds (9.1 to 13.6 kg) of explosives parked in front of the embassy blew up minutes after the driver left it. The blast, which caused widespread damage, was heard over a mile away. Apart from damage to the embassy building, shop windows were blown out. The attack took place one day after King Hussein of Jordan and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin met in Washington to discuss a Jordan-Israel peace treaty.[2]

Thirteen hours later another car bomb exploded outside Balfour House, which at the time was the London headquarters of one of the largest Jewish charities, The United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA), injuring six.[1][3]

Aftermath

Initially, the Israeli ambassador and British intelligence experts were blaming "pro-Iranian extremists, probably linked to the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group."[2] A group calling themselves the Palestinian Resistance Jaffa Group claimed responsibility for both bombs.[1]

Five Palestinians were arrested in London in January 1995 in connection with the bombings. In December 1996, two of them, both Palestinian science graduates educated in the UK, Jawad Botmeh and Samar Alami, were found guilty of "conspiracy to cause explosions" at the Old Bailey. They were sentenced to 20 years in jail, and lost their appeal in 2001.[4]

Botmeh was released from prison in 2008.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Yonah Alexander, Edgar H. Brenner (2013). Document No 24, in UK's Legal Responses to Terrorism, Routledge, p. 693
  2. 1 2 "Israel's London embassy bombed". BBC. 26 July 1994. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017.
  3. ↑ "Bombing in London Hits Israeli Embassy". The New York Times. 27 July 1994.
  4. ↑ "Tally Ho Bombers Lose Court Appeal". Guardian.co.uk. 1 November 2001.
  5. ↑ "London Metropolitan University suspends researcher with car bomb conviction". BBC. 22 February 2013.
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